AGENCY Senior Digital Project Manager Job Description

Title
Senior Digital Project Manager

Reporting Line
The Senior Digital Project Manager reports to the Project Director

Job Overview
The Senior Project Manager has day-to-day responsibility for the smooth and effective
running of their projects with a focus on great delivery. To do this they should have great
skills in effective project set up, budget control, project tracking and reporting, risk and issue
analysis and quality assurance. With this in mind, an understanding of the principles of
Project Management, appropriate methodologies and processes is vital.

Experience & Skills required

 Degree or equivalent work experience
 5 – 7 years of experience in digital development and project management are
required
 Excellent understanding of web technologies such as HTML/HTML5, CSS, CMS, and
mobile
 Experience in using a wide range of project management tools such as MS Project,
budget/time tracking tools and issue tracking software with the depth of knowledge
to recommend the right tools for a project
 Experience in a large agency environment
 Experience with a wide range of CMS such as WordPress, Drupal, Adobe, Sitecore
 Deep knowledge of Microsoft Office and Microsoft Project
 Broad experience in project management models and their application to different
projects, including Agile, Waterfall, and Scrum

Role & Responsibilities

These are the main areas of focus for a Senior Project Manager:
Managing and delivering projects
 Lead large, complex, 6+ month, technology/web projects with large budgets
($250,000 - $750,000), mixed resource teams with 10 FTEs
 Manage and deliver multiple work streams for various types of digital
communications projects within an account (e.g. web-site development, mobile
apps, banner advertising, email marketing campaigns, etc.) to agreed scope, timings,
budget and quality
 Work with internal teams to help define project scope, resource requirements and
cost estimates for projects
 Be the hub of communication for the project - in regular contact with internal and
external partners engaged in delivering our product.
 Encourage and facilitate collaboration. Set up projects in AGENCY TOOLS to give full
visibility but allow the team to collaborate independently
  Create robust and realistic cost documents in MS Excel and AGENCY TOOLS
 Produce realistic timings in MS Project with clearly flagged milestones
 Work with client’s third party agencies and AGENCY suppliers to jointly scope,
manage and deliver campaigns when appropriate
 Use AGENCY TOOLS to assign and track issues when appropriate
 At the start of a project, analyse the areas that could potentially throw the delivery
off track, log these risks and list what you plan to do to mitigate against them
 Be on top of your projects and know timings, key milestones, budgets, resourcing,
risks, etc.
 Assess the time and financial impact of changes and communicate to clients as
appropriate.
 Be firm but fair in judgement: push back when scope creep or suggested budgets are
not realistic whilst understanding the constraints of the client. Be prepared and able
to defend AGENCY position and profit margin internally and externally.
 Understand the workings and needs of the account you are partnered with; have a
good understanding of the brands you work on - their definitions, their core
characteristics, how they should and shouldn't behave
 Understand the key technical aspects of the development process for website
delivery, email delivery, online advertising, digital outdoor etc. as appropriate to
your client.
 Be commercially aware: At all times have an idea of the status of the budget of your
projects; WIPS should be updated weekly and any variations from budget accounted
for and where possible mitigated before they happen.
 Demonstrate an ability to deliver projects to deadlines and within budget
 Be seen as a focus of delivery knowledge and a key person whose opinion and advice
on project delivery is actively sought by clients and agency members.
 Work with client’s third party agencies and AGENCY suppliers to jointly scope,
manage and deliver campaigns when appropriate.
 Be able to confidently communicate with clients independently and happy to tackle
any project issues with senior clients.
 Make the quality of the project your responsibility; you will see every stage of the
work from start to finish and are essential in ensuring consistent quality and AGENCY
standards are adhered to.

Being professional
 Everything communicates – ensure that all documentation, costings, briefs, scopes
and presentations are of the highest possible standard.
 Be positive and a force for good in the team – even when faced with difficult
problems. Be solutions focussed.
 Remain calm and stable under pressure.
 Know when to delegate upwards and raise the alarm at the right time, to the right
people when issues occur.
 Be prepared to muck in on areas outside of your immediate team. This means
sharing resource, helping on other accounts, taking part in pitches or managing
internal initiatives.
  Help to make AGENCY a great place to work. Do your bit to build morale and to make
work fun.

Building and safeguarding relationships

 Build a partnership relationship with your clients; good rapport here is key to success
of both the delivery process and account development.
 Have great relationships with the internal project teams, so that people want to
work with and for you.
 Be responsible for ensuring that relevant clients and account team members are
kept up to date on project developments: changes in timings, costs and any issues
arising. Communicate regularly and don’t avoid difficult conversations.
 Never make promises you can’t keep, and always set expectations realistically.
 Ensure that internal and client sign-offs are obtained on all key project deliverables,
and that you have an audit trail to protect yourself if things go wrong.
 Where possible don’t back your client into a corner – clients make mistakes too and
are sometimes over-ruled by their bosses. Be sensitive to the pressures they face
and work with them, not against them.
 Manage conflicts and issues effectively, and seek guidance from your Project
Director Manager on any potentially sensitive or difficult situations.
 Demonstrate great people management skills, including motivating team members
to meet schedule and quality requirements for deliverables, ability to resolve
conflicts within the team, ability to get team members from different disciplines to
come together as a team, and ability to lead team members to deliver on schedule
and within budget constraints in a constructive manner.
 Lead by example and mentor the junior members of the team, encourage best
practice and methodology.

Being passionate about advertising and marketing, specifically digital

 Make it your business to learn as much as possible: reading relevant blogs and
articles, attending training sessions, talking to experts and taking an interest
generally in what is going on around you.
 Be plugged in to new trends and developments across the industry and particularly
within the client’s sector.
 Understand the different types of available and emerging media, particularly online,
including constraints and opportunities presented by each.
 Understand what makes a good piece of marketing.
 Have a sound knowledge of web and related technologies as well as other digital
channels.

Striving for great work

 Learn to develop creative and technical judgement and strive for the best work every
time. If you don’t think it’s good enough, say why and work with the team to
improve on it before it moves on.
 Ensure you are driving quality at every stage of the project
 Make all internal and client meetings and presentations count so your work is given
the best possible chance of success. Be professional and be prepared, and make sure
 everything is working (particularly tech equipment) before the meeting begins.
Preparation is key.

Job Scope
This role calls for an experienced and adaptable individual who can lead a large team to
deliver complex projects. They should be able to focus on the detail, being thoroughly
“buttoned-down” and on top of all aspects of their projects, while being aware of the
strategic objectives for driving success around business and customer needs.

The Senior Project Manager is responsible for managing the execution of interactive
projects from conception through delivery, including managing scope and resources,
scheduling, budget tracking, the development of project plans and providing status. The
Senior Project Manager essentially manages all factors that govern project success to ensure
delivery within time, cost and quality parameters.

The job will open opportunities for an individual interested in furthering their career Project
Management.